Closeups of the White Eyes Fuchsia hanging on the porch.
These are the grower's biodegradable hanging pots with attached hangers. The pots will last up to two or three years of normal outdoor wear. To dispose, snip off and recycle the plastic or metal hanger and put the pot in the yard waste or compostable garbage [depending on your local garbage rules.] The plants at this age could be re-planted into a fancier pot [I don't recommend it, however] or could be re-positioned into a slightly larger hanging pot. Be sure the pot has drainage.
The growers pots are already equipped with a nice drainage hole at the bottom. As the plant grows, the new roots will fill up the dirt and less water will stream out the bottom when watered. Sometimes I stuff a little biodegradable paper in the hole to keep more water in the pot and not dripping all over the porch. This is only something to be concerned about for the first few weeks or so, however.
I am watering these twice a day during this cool, showery period. As the weather warms up, their watering will increase to showering, misting, and soaking as many times a day as necessary. Last year's crop made it through the heat with flying colors. I'm hoping the same for this year, since five of the six are listed as heat tolerant. I will post pictures of them as their blooms increase. I'm also hoping to capture a lovely little hummingbird having a sip at one of the blooms. Now that would be a picture!
6 comments:
Oh, those fuschias are going to be a delicious show. I am going to check at some local nurseries down here to see if they have the biodegradable pots. Thanks for the nifty tip about paper in the holes which I will do in my hanging baskets to keep some more water IN the pot and not showering everything under them.
How hot does your summers get?
Hi SG, I'm glad you liked my method of plugging those holes.
Seattle has a nice breeze in the summer which keeps the normal summer day in the 70s. We do creep into the 80s and hit 90 sometimes for a few days here and there. Three in a row of 90+ degrees can be rare. Close to 100 or over is a medical emergency.
We live about 50 miles south of Seattle in the Puyallup area, but up in the hills against Mt. Rainier. We have less wind and more extreme weather. We had lots of 90s last summer. We had more snow and cold weather this winter. [Next week we will have freezing nights, not good for the plants.]
It's still a cooler/wetter type of weather than Eastern Washington and the Rockies, but it's more contrasty than the marine climate I grew up in, which had very subtle weather and was not too dramatic, except when we had a hurricane.
Most people don't have air conditioning. We had it in our old house in Seattle, but not here yet. Last summer we actually slept outside on the porch in some neat airbeds. I will blog about that when we set up the beds this year.
Weathermen hate to try to predict our weather because of the mix of terrain and latitude. I guess I love weather. It's a challenge!
If you're still awake at this point -- thanks for reading!!! LOL
Ohhh, those fuschias are gorgeous!
Your verandah (especially in the Wednesday photo) looks very inviting. If I lived anywhere near Seattle, I would invite myself over to sleep on your porch during the summer nights :0)
Thanks Milli! We had our camping nights out here. Listened to the night birds, thought we heard deer sneaking thru the yard heading over to the neighbor's roses. And when it's clear -- oooh the stars! Hubby sleeps on his airbed out there during the day a lot, too. The hummers didn't seem to mind his snoring. LOL
I've driven by--and they look cool even at a distance. Can't wait to sit out there with coffee and wait for the blooms. I'd say they are going to burst with color in, hmm, let's see, about a month. Are you going to try those cool upside down tomato planters?--as seen on tv? It would make it easy to go out and snatch an occasional tomato snack wouldn't it? Oh, a klatsch and snatch....
Joods! That is too funny!! Hubby would like to try those upsidedown tomato hangers, I am a little skeptical. We have room, though. I think I'd put them on the West side where the geraniums are temporarily but I don't think they'd get enough sun there. That's actually soon to be my lettuce site, once I move the geraniums to the walkway pots. They need sunshine and the porch by the front door would get morning sun, but none in the afteroon. But that might be a better spot for them. Then you could have coffee and a tomato. LOL
I don't want it too easy for the deer to walk up the steps and start munching, though. Once they work their way around the porch, we're sunk for sleeping out there at night. Even with barricades by the dining table.
Let's leave it as a "Will-see," as Dad used to say, OK?
Post a Comment